Leading Ladies
by booksdefygravity
Summary: A collection of drabbles and oneshots focusing on the many fabulous women of the Wizarding world.
1. Chapter 1: Rowena Ravenclaw

**AN: So... this is going to be yet another drabble collection. Oh well.**

 **xxx**

Rowena crept forward, her feet padding softly against the mossy ground. It was near midnight, and only a few slivers of moonlight managed to shine through the thick treetops, making the forest unnervingly dark. She held on tight to her wand, comforted by the thin beam of light it offered.

Truth be told, wandering through the forest in the dead of night wasn't a common activity for Rowena- she generally left that sort of thing to her favorite idiot, Godric. But Rowena did like to keep an eye on the forest, and she knew that something especially interesting was happening that night: a unicorn mating ritual. The opportunity to observe such an astonishing magical moment was too much for her to resist.

Naturally, her friends had had absolutely no interest in coming with her. Salazar and Godric wanted to practice dueling, and Helga was already curled up with her four Kneazles, sound asleep. A fond smile crept across Rowena's face at the thought of them. Despite all the incessant bickering and teasing that went on between them, she loved her three best friends more than anything.

At the moment, however, she had important observations to make.

"Nox," she whispered. Instantly, the light emanating from her wand was extinguished- she didn't want to frighten the unicorns. Moving slowly and quietly, she made her way to the edge of a small clearing and crouched down behind a bush.

Barely a minute later, a unicorn emerged from the thicket of trees, its white fur almost glowing against the dark background. Another quickly followed, and another, until the clearing was full of the beautiful creatures. They moved silently through the clearing, nudging each other with their horns, like a greeting. It was an enchantingly beautiful scene.

Rowena sat completely still, entranced by the sight, a soft smile on her lips. Somehow, taking notes would have felt sacrilegious. Instead, she simply watched, until the sun rose and her friends came looking for her.


	2. Chapter 2: Moaning Myrtle

The redheaded girl was staring at her.

It was just _typical,_ Myrtle thought sulkily, just absolutely typical, that when she needed the privacy of her bathroom, someone would be in it. No one was ever in her bathroom- except, of course, when she needed to cry in solitude.

"What do you want?" she said, folding her translucent arms across her chest.

The small girl continued to stare at Myrtle with wide blue eyes.

"What are you staring at?" snapped Myrtle, angry tears welling up in her eyes. "Do I have a stain on my shirt? Lettuce on my glasses? Spinach in my teeth?"

"How can you have spinach in your teeth if you're a ghost?" said the girl. "Ghosts can't eat things."

"Well, that's just insensitive!" said Myrtle. She felt the urge to stomp her foot, but stomping as a ghost wasn't nearly as satisfying as she would have liked. She settled on more tears. "Talking to _me_ about eating! How rude! It's bad enough that Peeves was making fun of me, _again,_ and now this!"

"You don't have a stain on your shirt, you know," said the girl, who looked both confused and fascinated by Myrtle's tears. "So you can stop crying now."

"Stop crying!" Her voice rose to a wail. "I've had enough of people rudely barging into my bathroom and interrupting me!" With that, she whirled around, flung herself through the stall, and hurtled into the toilet, straight towards the U-bend.

Rose Weasley, still standing alone in the bathroom, watched her go with wide eyes.

 _These Hogwarts ghosts are just as crazy as Dad said,_ she decided.


	3. Chapter 3: Merope Gaunt

It was a hot, dusty day, the kind Merope had always hated. The hovel she lived in was small and badly constructed, making it freezing cold in winter and unbearably hot in summer. Everything, from Merope's skin to the dented pots and pans, felt sticky.

And yet, she almost didn't mind the heat that day. Before her father and brother went to Azkaban, she would have been terrified: as the temperature rose, so did their tempers. But now she was alone, and free to do as she wished.

She knew exactly what she wished.

Merope Gaunt was used to being lorded over, but at heart, she was still a Slytherin, and like all Slytherins, she had ambitions. She had _plans._

As it turned out, luck was in favor of her plans that day.

She'd just poured herself a glass of lemonade, something she indulged in often now that she was free to do as she wished, when the sound of clopping hooves reached her ears.

A jolt of shock ran through her body. She placed her glass of lemonade on the table and leapt to her feet, desperately scrambling through her cupboards in search of the small bottle she'd purchased a few weeks before.

She spotted it and snatched it from the shelf, fingers shaking slightly as she pulled the stopper from the bottle and dumped the liquid into her glass of lemonade.

There was no time to hesitate. Clutching the glass tightly, she rushed to the door and threw it open. "Sir!"

The horseback rider tugged on his reins, pulling the horse to a stop. "Is everything alright, miss?"

Merope supposed she looked a bit bedraggled, but there wasn't any time to worry about that. "Yes," she said, moving forward a little. She couldn't believe how handsome he was up close. "I just thought you might want a glass of lemonade. It's terribly hot out here." She held out the glass.

The dark-haired boy blinked with surprise, no doubt astonished that a girl living in a hovel might actually have manners. "Oh," he said. "Um, certainly. Thank you."

"The pleasure is mine," said Merope sweetly. She pressed the glass into his hand, shivering a little as their fingers brushed.

He didn't bother to get down from his horse, and hesitated for a moment before lifting the glass to his lips, but in the end he tilted his head back and drank it all. When he was finished, he handed her the glass and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Thank you again," he said, without looking at her. "I'd best be on my way."

Merope's smile fell. Was the potion faulty?

Abruptly, the boy's body stiffened. His eyes landed on Merope's face and widened. "Miss," he said, in an entirely different voice, "may I have your name?"

Her whole body trembled. "Merope Gaunt," she said.

"Miss Gaunt." He slid from his horse and took her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Tom Riddle, at your service." He pressed his lips against her hand.

"Yes," Merope whispered. "Yes, you are."


	4. Chapter 4: Audrey Weasley

The office was exactly as she had imagined it: pristine, quiet, and calm. Audrey ran her fingers across the smooth, shiny wooden surface of the desk. The feeling sent a thrill through her body. For the next six years, that desk was _hers._

She took a deep breath, pulled out the desk chair, and sat down.

xxx

From the very first moment she heard the term _Minister of Magic,_ when she was just an eleven-year-old girl in awe of the fantastic new world she was suddenly a part of, she knew that it was the right job for her. Audrey liked jobs. She liked getting things done. And there was no doubt in her mind that the Minister's job was to get things done. _Important_ things.

Of course, there had been a few bumps in the road. Being sorted into Slytherin, for example, didn't exactly make things easier. All the stories she'd heard about Slytherin House made it sound awful. But that was where the Sorting Hat wanted her, so that was where Audrey went.

For the next seven years, Audrey worked as hard as she could. She convinced her Slytherin classmates that she was a Half-Blood, not a Muggleborn, and kept up the lie until the ,very last day of school. When people spoke badly of Slytherins, she ignored them. She was ambitious she was cunning, but she wasn't evil. She worked hard- harder than anyone- for what she wanted.

And she got it.

xxx

Audrey sat straight up and pulled out her notebook. There was no time to daydream about the past. The Minister of Magic had things to do.

 _Important_ things.


End file.
